Posted on 08/16/2007 7:40:44 AM PDT by raccoonradio
(More below, too) Sources close to the negotiations say a possible new home for radio talkmasters John Dennis and Gerry Callahan is WCRB-FM (99.5), the classical music station that is considering a switch to an all-sports format. Dennis and Callahan, whose contracts expire next month, have had the 6-10 a.m. shift on WEEI-AM (850) until last week, when they were told not to return. Dennis was on vacation last week; Callahan has been out since May while recovering from throat surgery.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
more from BOSTON RADIO WATCH by Mark Schnyder
A local FM sports talk start-up is planned
So it’s not a stunt as we follow the money trail.
According to this morning’s reports in Scott’s Shots , the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe, there maybe two definite winners in what might turn into another Boston sports talk radio war.
One may include WEEI’s “Dennis and Callahan” who have been approached by folks planning a multi-station regional sports talk network. According to Scott’s Shots, the start-up sports talk format is being explored by Nassau Broadcasting, owners of classical music WCRB 99.5FM which would naturally be converted from playing Mozart to talking sports(and politics) and serve as the radio web’s new flagship. With “Dennis and Callahan” entering a very strange phase of their contract renewal process with Entercom’s WEEI AM 850, as was reported here and elsewhere earlier this week(BRW 8/13), they are considering of taking their highly-paid, high-profile act to a new regional sports talk network.
The other winner here would include Boston sports fans, who will now have at least four sources for extensive sports and information between WEEI AM, 890 ESPN, Zone 1510 and the new FM brand on 99.5.
But is there really room for four all-sports stations here? Is there enough revenue even with a stronger FM signal? The numbers just don’t add up. It took WEEI years to create its brand and start making and spending big money. While it is the second highest billing sports talker in the nation, its budget is also stretched out with expensive on-air talent and more off-air production staffers than at any other radio outlet in the market, with the exception of an expensive all-news format on WBZ and expensive content deals with the Red Sox and Patriots.
Sports is still a niche and very targeted radio format even in a sports-crazed market like Boston. The track record for local sports competition that went up against WEEI in the past decade isn’t very good which proves the point that there isn’t enough to go around for more than one sports station in the market.
Sports fans can enjoy the ride while it lasts.
What a loss. Nothing is more boring or monotonous than sports radio. I listen to it when I need to cure myself of insomnia.
(Nothing etched in stone yet, folks...but it gets
interesting.)
Boston Herald, Inside Track:
The latest buzz is that the sports station’s morning team are mulling a move to become franchise players when Nassau Broadcasting switches WCRB-FM and its more than a dozen other New England stations to an all-sports format.
The classical music station, which Nassau bought last year, would be the sports network’s flagship station, and D & C’s new morning drive show would be simulcast throughout New England, according to sources.
In the meantime, ’EEI is planning for life without their morning stars. Sources say mid-day men Dale Arnold and Mike Holley - or perhaps Dale and his former ‘EEI partner Bob Neumeier - may move up to the premier time slot. Insiders say Boston Globe sports scribes Jackie MacMullan and Bob Ryan have been asked if they’d like to host mid-days.
This week, John and Gerry continue to enjoy the dog days of August while WEEI launches its annual Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon today.
“That is our only focus right now,” station suit Jason Wolfe told the Track.
BOSTON SPORTS MEDIA: Scott’s Shots
by David Scott
Regional Radio Network A Possible Alternative for D&C
By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch
Day Four (Thursday) of the “Dennis and Callahan” lockout at WEEI 850 AM brings emerging details of what exactly it is Julie Kahn, Jason Wolfe and the rest of Entercom are bidding against (not to be confused with what listeners can be bidding ON beginning today and lasting through tomorrow).
A source with direct knowledge of D&C’s “mystery option” has confirmed to Shots the potential suitor would use the 99.5 FM signal of WCRB to anchor a regional sports talk network built around a John Dennis and Gerry Callahan morning drive show.
Funding for the regional network is, according to our source, to be provided by a local venture capitalist group with “deep pockets. This isn’t WWZN (1510 AM) or 890 AM (ESPN Radio) with no plan and no money,” said the Shots’ source. “This is people that know what they’re doing and are willing to spend to get it done.”
Under the discussed arrangement, Nassau Broadcasting will either share or sell upwards of 20 of its New England stations to the VC group and then convert the compilation into a 24-hour regional sports talk network. In essence, it would be regional sports talk with a heavy Boston-accent and could stretch from Cape Cod through New Hampshire and well into Vermont and Maine.
(Not all of the Nassau Broadcasting stations would make the switch and probably no more than 17, according to our source. Accordingly, it would not necessarily signal the end for the popular classical music station, as it could be shuffled off to another Nassau-owned outlet in the area.)
It is believed that both Dennis and Callahan have been given presentations by the VC group and that Nassau is on board with some type of arrangement that will allow the network to make a run at WEEI (and its affiliates) stranglehold on the sports talk sector in New England. An October 15 start-up date has even been (ambitiously) floated, according to our source and there is already a preliminary budget for the first three months of marketing and promotion with at least $500,000 allotted for each month to tout the network’s launch, with D&C as the centerpiece of the campaign.
The source was not clear on what the “heavily funded” VC group’s involvement would be beyond the infusion of cash. Often times, according to another industry insider, the VC people become involved in management and promotion of the network. If it’s an outright sale - and that’s unlikely for the expanding, not contracting Nassau - then the VC people would install their own management group.
[Three separate days worth of voice messages (and one email) to Nasssau’s Senior Executive Vice President and Director, Tristram Collins, seeking comment for this story went unreturned. Collins is listed on several company releases as the contact person for Nassau. The company’s CEO is Louis F. Mercatanti, Jr. who was quoted when the ‘CRB deal went down and cooed about the valued classical music roots of the station.]
More than just a bargaining chip for D&C, the proposed network would also be the first serious contender that Entercom’s WEEI would have to deal with. Immediately the new network would be on equal with “Entercom’s sports leader,” something WWZN and 890 ESPN have never even remotely approached. ‘CRB’s Boston signal - FM, no less - is among the region’s strongest and the ability to penetrate up to the Canadian border through the string of affiliates will have appeal for national-type advertisers such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Bank of America.
A lot would certainly depend on what other programming the proposed network would offer and our source indicates that some raiding of ‘EEI talent may occur, but there would also need to be a mix of other voices. There is also the question of how much demand there is for Bostoncentric sports talk radio in the rural outposts of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Beyond the potential market impact, Shots is also discovering a growing pack of disgruntled ‘EEI employees who are ready to march out of the New Balance Building and down to ‘CRB’s Waltham studios right behind D&C. “It will look like Noah’s Ark in reverse. Two by two they’ll be coming out of that building,” said one of the disgruntled denizens of the Wolfe Den.
Said another, “there are quite a few people at the station who would like to see D&C go, not because they don’t like them, but (because) they’d like to see a shot across the bow to Wolfe and Kahn.”
All of this is fairly predictable as battle lines are drawn and sides taken in the event that D&C are suddenly in a position to be influential in the filling of a new franchise’s roster.
“Put it this way,” said one ‘EEInsider, “if they go, the whole morning show would go as a package. (Jon) Meter(parel) and everyone behind the glass.”
If you’re getting the feeling that this is getting uglier and uglier, you’re dead on. There will be a point - and it could be soon - when Entercom is going to just have to cut the chord and let everything fall as it may. Advertisers are not a patient lot and the prospect of a new outlet entering the picture can only muddle things further. ‘EEI needs to comfort and reassure its clients before its clients abandon ship.
Once the legitimacy and capabilities of the D&C-coveting investment group are made public - if they are ever made public - there is every reason to believe that ‘EEI will be in for the fight of its life and if the Kahn and Wolfe think they have issues in retaining their talent, just wait until they have to start doing battle against that very same talent.
Clearly, there are questions and negotiations that still need to be completed for the D&C departure to become a reality. The fact that the duo has not yet pulled the trigger is probably a good indication that there are still issues to be addressed. While the VC group’s money will certainly be enticing for the pair, the security of an established entity like ‘EEI will also be of paramount import to the 55-year-old Dennis and his decade-younger partner, Callahan.
This thing, sadly, is far from over, although it’s not out of the question that some clarity could be coming on Monday of next week.
• As for the Tuesday reports both here at Shots and in the Herald that advertisers are getting antsy about their morning buys, it appears the WEEI sales force is re-assuring buyers that a “major national personality” will be on-air next week during the morning drive. The immediate “2+2=4” conclusion would be to look towards Bristol and a certain soon-to-be-available ( temporarily) familiar radio voice. But that’s just one of several rumors swirling as ‘EEI’s damage control unit tries to deflect attention from the Studio-non-grata pair of D&C.
UPDATE: 9:17 AM, Thursday: While the Track Gals are naming Dan Patrick by name, it’s still not etched in stone that DP will be in the NB building all week long. Further, it’s hard to fathom where the Gals are getting their info that Jackie Mack and Bob Ryan are being considered for roles at ‘EEI - the Globe ban on writers at the station is still in effect last we checked.
. . . The Globe’s Susan Bickelhaupt appears to have been clued in on the ‘CRB rumors and got a graf squeezed into some editions as well as on the web.
Insiders say Boston Globe sports scribes Jackie MacMullan and Bob Ryan have been asked if they’d like to host mid-days.
As of now,Globe employees are not allowed on WEEI.
Those 2 talk politics and current events almost as much as they talk sports. I’m a big Gerry fan, He pisses of alot of the libs around here.
Interesting—but who knows, maybe some of the Globe
and Herald writers could wind up on this all-new
sports station/network (IF it happens; again, nothing
etched in stone yet)
I had said before that judging from the fact that Entercom
put simulcast stations of WEEI in Westerly RI, Worcester,
and Easthampton MA, they could probably also branch out
into NH, VT, and ME. That is just what this new network
might do (competition for WEEI, now...)
Some of the Nassau stations that might be part of it
http://www.nassaubroadcasting.com/stations.htm
(basically they have a bit of everything: classic rock,
country, and oldies in VT; classic rock, country,
oldies, and sports in NH; classical, rock, etc in ME;
and Frank FM down on the Cape.
I am a big fan of his too. I have missed him the last few months.
Needless to say, many on radio & political messageboards
who criticize the “political” content of D&C are probably
libs. It’s not so much that they don’t want political
talk mixing with sports (though that could be part of it),
it’s that they don’t agree with John and Gerry.
Supposedly there is that WEEI/Globe “ban” on writers
appearing but maybe Ryan would join WEEI (or that new
“network”) if he got a “buyout” from El Globo...and thus
could work elsewhere.
I love WEEI and WCRB. Ah, well.
Great, intelligent music replaced by clueless blowhards showinf their a—.
Boston is sooooo lucky!
I heard the last classical piece, Madame Butterfly, played on WQRS in Detroit. They started playing Nine Inch Nails on top of it...I thought it was technical difficulties, or perhaps hackers. Nope.
Funny thing is, they ended up going through 4 formats in about 10 years.
Been in mourning ever since.
Well, we’ll see if this network starts up and if so, they say they’ll find another place to put classical. I’m not sure
where—another FM spot in Boston, owned by someone else,
or the FM 106.3 up in Nashua/Manchester NH, which they do own?
Famed classical stations have disappeared elsewhere, like
in Wash. DC (though they made some kind of a deal to put
more classical on non-commercial radio). Classical moved
to weaker spots on the dial in Cleveland (WCLV, which
produces the “Weekend Radio” show) too.
WCRB is telling its listeners and staffers, don’t panic!
Radio and Records:
>>However, WCRB PD/midday host Mark Edwards tells R&R that Nassau Broadcasting assured him and his staff on Thursday morning, after the speculation started surfacing, that the station would be remaining a classical music station.
Turns out that Nassau’s “network” won’t be a competitor
to WEEI, it’ll BE WEEI (spread throughout other parts of
New England)...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1882420/posts
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